


Grounded

by CopperPolyphony



Category: Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Maria just wants to be a good mom, mentioned TsubaMari, with a light dusting of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28898589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CopperPolyphony/pseuds/CopperPolyphony
Summary: Kirika and Shirabe get grounded for something that totally,definitelywasn’t their fault.
Relationships: Akatsuki Kirika/Tsukuyomi Shirabe
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Grounded

“How could you even _think_ of doing something that dangerous?”

Shirabe and Kirika exchanged a pained look as Maria paced in front of them on the submarine bridge, steaming with anger. A crowd of SONG operatives had gathered in the hallway outside, drawn by Maria’s yelling.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Shirabe said quietly. She was staring at the floor, unwilling to look up and risk meeting Maria’s eyes.

“You two destroyed an entire city block because you _got distracted kissing!_ ” Maria spun on her heel and continued pacing in the opposite direction.

Kirika gave a nervous smile and rubbed the back of her neck. “S-Shirabe just looked really pretty, dess!” 

Maria stopped pacing and glared at them. “You were in the middle of a _combo attack_!” 

“Ehehe...” Kirika laughed awkwardly and tried to keep up her smile.

“You two need to stay focused!” Maria said, returning to her pacing. “What if that area wasn’t evacuated? You could have hurt someone! Or a Noise could have snuck up on you and—“

Genjuro stepped forward through the crowd of crew members and onto the bridge. The couple looked hopefully at each other. Surely their astute commander would save them!

He cleared his throat. “Maria-kun, I think you’re being a bit harsh, they were only—“

Maria shot him a wicked glare that cut him off mid-sentence. Shirabe and Kirika winced, both having been subject to Maria’s ‘mom stare’ before. So much for their astute commander.

Maria turned back to the couple. “You’re grounded! For a week! Two weeks! And no cell phones!”

Shirabe sighed and resigned herself to their fate while Kirika’s jaw dropped at the mere suggestion of giving up her phone for that amount of time.

“Noooooo!”

  


* * *

  


Maria herded the two girls through the hallway to their living quarters.

“The rooms on the sub are so boring! Why can’t we be grounded at _home_ with our _games_ , dess?” Kirika grumbled.

“Or Chris-senpai’s house,” Shirabe added.

“Yeah, or Chris-senpai’s place!” Kirika exclaimed. “She’s got tons of movies!”

“It’s a punishment!” Maria said sternly. “You’re not supposed to have fun! Besides, it’s much safer here and I can make sure you can’t sneak out.” 

Maria hit a button on the wall and the door to Kirika’s room slid open. Kirika grumbled and dragged her feet as she shuffled inside. Shirabe moved to follow, but Maria put an arm between them to stop her.

“It’s not much of a punishment if you’re just going to be kissing the entire time.”

“Nooooo! Shirabe!” Kirika dramatically stretched an arm out towards her as Maria closed the door.

Maria put a hand on Shirabe’s shoulder and guided her to her quarters next door. Shirabe turned to face her as she stepped inside.

“What if I die without Kiri-chan?” she asked quietly, looking up at Maria with wide eyes.

“You won’t die without her, it’ll only be a few days before—“

“Jiiiiiiii~” Shirabe put on her best puppy dog eyes.

“D-Don’t give me that look. It won’t help you.” Maria’s expression slowly shifted from anger to regret, and she—

She closed the door. 

_I almost had her,_ Shirabe thought as she sat down on her bed. She sighed and drew her legs up to her chest, staring blankly at the large screen on the wall. _I miss Kiri-chan already..._

  


* * *

  


_That was a close one._ Maria slumped her back against the door. She sighed and rubbed her temples. _Why do they have to be like this? Why can’t they just wait until they_ aren’t _fighting to be intimate? I mean, it’s not like I go all starry-eyed every time Tsubasa swings her sword!_

Maria blushed, remembering the time she got a nosebleed after watching her partner take out a field of Noise by herself in under a minute.

_Maybe I am being too harsh on them..._

  


* * *

  


Shirabe lay on her bed, counting rivets on the ceiling panels. She sat up suddenly when she heard a small _thump_ on the wall.

“Hmm?” She looked around for the source of the noise. Two more thumps.

She cautiously put an ear to the wall and heard a few more thumps and a distant voice. She eventually followed the vibrations to a vent high up on the wall. She wasn’t tall enough to reach it, but she could still make out the faint voice of her partner. 

“Stupid stupid _stupid_ , dess! I made Maria get all mad at us again.” Kirika’s voice was followed by another thump. It sounded like she was bouncing a ball against the wall.

Shirabe frowned. Kirika always got like this when she thought she was alone. At least when they were together, she could keep her beloved Kiri-chan occupied and try to cheer her up, but apart...

“Kiri-chan?” Shirabe called out. Kirika didn’t respond. Shirabe tried again but louder. “Kiri-chan!”

“Ah?! Shirabe?” The thumps stopped and her girlfriend’s voice became closer. She was probably standing under the vent on her side.

“Mhm.” Shirabe nodded, even though Kirika couldn’t see her.

“I missed you, deeeeess!” Kirika wailed.

“Me too.” Shirabe paused. “I’m glad we can talk to each other.”

“Yeah,” Kirika said wearily. “I didn’t know if I could make it two weeks without you.” She sighed and went quiet.

“Kiri-chan?” Shirabe asked.

“I have an idea, dess!” Kirika’s voice was suddenly filled with enthusiasm.

“Hmm?”

“ _Zeios Igalima raizen tron~_ ” 

Shirabe heard four slashes followed by a series of approaching thumps from the walls. The metal of the grate buckled and fell to the ground and her girlfriend’s face appeared in the vent.

“Secret tunnel, dess!” Kirika grinned. “Uh... hehe... how do I get down?” She stuck both her arms out and started to clumsily slide down the wall with her hands.

“Kiri-chan?” 

“Whaa!” Kirika tumbled out of the vent and fell right onto her. The two of them landed face to face on the ground, Kirika laying on top of her.

“Jiiiiii~” Shirabe stared into her girlfriend’s eyes, only centimeters away from hers.

“Ah!” Kirika sat up and pulled her into a tight hug, a few tears spilling out of her eyes. “Shirabe! I missed you, deeeess!”

Shirabe lightly squeezed her back and planted a kiss on her cheek. She leaned back and touched the tip of her nose to Kirika’s. “I missed you too.”

“Ehehe...” Kirika pressed her forehead against Shirabe’s, grinning happily.

“Kiri-chan...” Shirabe tilted her head slightly at her. “What if someone heard you transform?”

“Ahh!” Apparently her impulsive girlfriend hadn’t thought of that before she used her Gear. 

“You might have to sneak back,” Shirabe teased lightly, a small smile dancing on her lips. She made sure to squeeze Kirika a bit tighter so she knew she didn’t really want her to go.

“Hmph. I don’t wanna go back.” Kirika pouted and crossed her arms. She glanced up at the vent she had climbed out of. “I couldn’t climb back up there if I wanted to, dess!” she proclaimed proudly.

  


* * *

  


“Beach, dess!” 

With not much else to do, Kirika had turned to flipping through the backgrounds of the fake television screen window and listing their contents. Shirabe sat on the opposite side of the bed and watched her girlfriend while absentmindedly flipping a yo-yo she’d found in one of the drawers at her desk. 

“River, dess!”

She had tried to teach Kirika how to yo-yo, but that had only ended up with her girlfriend somehow managing to tangle both of them up in the string. It had taken them an hour to get out. Or an entire day. Or maybe it was only a few minutes. Shirabe had no way of keeping track of time anymore.

Kirika hit the button and the scenery shifted to a starry night sky with a pre-kadinglar moon.

“Moon, dess.” Her voice now sounded disinterested. She pressed the button and the screen shifted to a blown up photo of her own face.

“Whaa!” Kirika jumped up and whirled around. “Why am I on your wall, dess?”

Shirabe smiled slightly. She had forgotten about that. 

“I uploaded photos for when I missed Kiri-chan.”

“Eh? How many?” Kirika frantically hit the button and the screen scrolled through picture after picture of her. “D-D-D-Dess?!”

“That one’s cute,” Shirabe commented as Kirika flipped past a photo of the two of them eating ice cream.

Kirika groaned. “Now I want ice cream!”

She scrolled through a few more photos before stopping at a selfie of the two of them crouched behind a bush and wearing their disguise glasses. In the background behind them Tsubasa and Maria were eating lunch at a café, clearly unaware of the couple’s presence.

“I remember this one, dess!” Kirika exclaimed. “It’s from when we followed Maria and Tsubasa on their date!”

Shirabe nodded approvingly. “They needed supervision.”

Kirika’s shoulders started to deflate. “Maybe that’s why Maria was so mad at us...”

“But we were wearing our foolproof disguises.” Shirabe tilted her head at her. “No one could have recognized us.”

“Ooh!” Kirika suddenly jumped up. “What if we tricked someone to let us out with our disguises, dess?”

“Mhm.” Shirabe nodded. “Let’s do it.”

  


* * *

  


Shirabe stood in the middle of the room with her disguise, a pair of pink glasses. Kirika, who was unable to locate her own glasses, was balancing on a desk next to the door, ready to dart out when Shirabe had their victim distracted.

They didn’t have to wait long. 

The door slid open to reveal Chris carrying a black backpack.

“Hey, Shirabe. I brought some—“

“Who is this Shirabe you speak of?” Shirabe said in a fake accent. “I am the goddess of the moon and I—“

“What the hell are you talking about?” Chris snorted. “You’re not fooling anyone with those glasses, Shirabe!”

“Ah!” Shirabe recoiled, not expecting to be found out so fast. “I... I...”

“Yeah. Let’s see you try to wiggle your way out of this one, squirt.” Chris crossed her arms.

“K-Kiri-chan, my disguise didn’t work.”

“Ummm... Sneak attack, dess!” Kirika launched herself from her hiding spot and latched onto Chris’s back like a spider.

“What the hell?!” Chris tried to shake her off.

“Shirabe, run!” Kirika cried.

“Mhm.” Shirabe started to run for the door, but Chris blocked her path like a football player, Kirika still dangling from her back. 

“Give it up already, pipsqueak!” she growled.

Shirabe tried to dart around her but Chris got an arm around her neck in a headlock.

“Ha! I have to deal with _that_ idiot jumping on me all the time, you small fries are nothing!” Chris grinned and pumped a fist in the air. “Admit defeat!” 

Shirabe’s shoulders slumped. “Kiri-chan... I think our plan failed.” Kirika slid off Chris and let out a disgruntled “dess.” Chris huffed and took a few steps back.

“Did you really think that was going to work?” Chris crossed her arms. “We’re on a submarine. Where were you dorks gonna go?”

“But it’s so boring here, dess!” Kirika groaned.

“I literally came here to smuggle you a bunch of games and stuff!” Chris opened her backpack and a flood of dvds spilled out. Kirika gasped and practically dived for them. She held up a frilly pastel-colored magical girl movie with reverence.

“Ooh! It’s that movie I left at your place last time, dess! You’re the best senpai ever!”

“Yeah, yeah, okay...” Chris said, a faint blush visible on her cheeks. “How’d you even get in here anyway? Maria said she put you in different rooms.”

“Ehehe...” Kirika laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head. 

Chris followed her gaze to the open vent and snorted. “I don’t know how she thought she could ever keep you dorks separated.” 

Shirabe smiled and moved to embrace her partner. 

Chris’s phone beeped and she looked down at it. “I gotta go now, but I’ll try to get you some more stuff next time.”

Shirabe and Kirika exchanged a glance.

“Thank you, Chris-senpai!” they said in unison. 

Chris started to blush again. “Y-Yeah, whatever.“

  


* * *

  


“Boss defeated! Level up, dess!” Kirika pumped her fists in the air, disturbing Shirabe, who had been using her shoulder as a pillow. “Ooh, I got a new move!” She put her arms down and continued tapping on the screen.

Shirabe idly traced patterns down Kirika’s arm as she watched her play on the handheld device Chris loaned them.

“Kiri-chan should use it on the enemy in the last room,” she suggested.

“Okay, dess!”

They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

“May I come in?” The two of them jumped up at the sound of Maria’s voice.

“Kiri-chan, hide!” Shirabe whispered. Kirika threw her game on the bed and scrambled to the vent while Shirabe placed a blanket over the games they had left on the floor.

“S-Shirabe! I don’t think I can make it, dess!” Kirika whispered, sounding panicked.

Shirabe looked over to find her partner dangling from the vent by her fingertips, her feet slipping on the sleek wall. She quickly looked around and found the bed they had just been laying on.

“Hide under the bed!” she hissed back. Kirika lightly hopped down and moved for the bed. Both girls froze when they heard Maria at the door again. 

“Shirabe? Are you okay?” 

Shirabe turned to the door and said, “You can’t come in, I’m...“ She trailed off and looked to Kirika for help. Kirika gave her a blank look and shrugged, halfway under the bed.

“You’re... what?” Maria asked, her voice muffled. “I couldn’t hear you.”

“I’m gay!” Shirabe blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Kirika gave her an excited thumbs up and tucked her head under the bed just as the door hissed open.

“Yes, yes, I know.” Maria sighed deeply and paused halfway in the room. Her eyes found the blanket on the floor and she gave a brief smile. “Taking cleaning lessons from Tsubasa?” 

Shirabe smiled inwardly at the joke but hoped Maria wouldn’t try to tidy up for her. 

“Can we talk?” Maria asked with an almost sheepish smile, awkwardly fiddling with the hem of one of her sleeves.

Shirabe nodded silently and sat down on the bed. Maria sat next to her and smoothed out a wrinkle on her skirt.

Maria let out a long sigh and looked down at her feet. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you two like that.”

Shirabe cocked her head at her. Her eyes darted to the bed behind Maria and found the game Kirika was playing before she came in. Thankfully, Maria hadn’t seemed to notice it yet.

“Especially not in front of all those people,” Maria continued.

“Mmhmm.” Shirabe’s eyes were still locked onto the game behind Maria, not paying any attention to what she was saying.

“I had a talk with the commander and realized I was acting like Mom, who in hindsight... wasn’t _exactly_ the best role model. You two are almost adults and— What are you looking at?” Maria started to turn her head.

Panicking, Shirabe did the first thing that came to her mind. She hugged her. 

Fortunately, this was also the perfect maneuver for her to hide their contraband. Shirabe stealthily tucked the game under a blanket. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do for now. 

“Oh?” Maria slowly returned the gesture. They stayed there for a few moments before Maria released the embrace and gave a hesitant smile. “I take it you’ll forgive me?”

“Hmm? Are you going to un-ground us?” Shirabe asked, confused. She‘d been so worried about hiding the game, Maria’s apology had gone in one ear and out the next.

“For now, yes. But—“ Maria put a finger in the air. “You two need to promise me that you’ll never do that ever again! You... y-you’re banned from kissing!” she stuttered.

Shirabe stared at her with wide eyes. “I’m not allowed to kiss Kiri-chan?” she asked softly.

It was an act, of course. She and Kirika had been sneaking kisses behind Maria’s back since they were children, and they certainly weren’t about to stop now.

“W-Well, I-I didn’t mean _that_!” Maria flushed and coughed. “Just not when you’re fighting. You can’t just start kissing in the middle of your combo attack and forget where you’re aiming!” Maria’s expression turned stern again.

“But... Kiri-chan looked so cute,” Shirabe said quietly. She was pretty sure she heard a small giggle from under the bed.

“What was that?” Maria asked, another mom stare beginning to form on her face.

“Mhm.” Shirabe nodded. “I promise.”

“Okay.” Maria stood up and smiled. “I’m going to go talk to Kirika now.”

Shirabe’s heart skipped a beat. “Kiri-chan is... umm...” Apparently she wasn’t the best at coming up with excuses on the fly. Maria sighed.

“Please don’t say ‘gay’ again, I already know that... AHH!” Maria screamed as Kirika grabbed her leg and used it to pull herself out from under the bed.

“Ehehehe! Rawr!” Kirika grinned and made a monster noise, miming claws with her hands as she stood up. She grabbed Shirabe’s hands and jumped excitedly. “We’re free, dess!”

“K-Kirika?” Maria exclaimed, her face pale. She had a hand pressed over her chest like she was about to have a heart attack. “How did you get in here?!”

Kirika ignored Maria and leaned in to kiss Shirabe instead.

“Hey! What did I _just_ say about getting distracted kissing!”


End file.
